


Nowhere to go but down

by ToshiChan



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Recovery, Serious Injuries, implied - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 04:31:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17440004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToshiChan/pseuds/ToshiChan
Summary: Count Olaf succeeds in marrying Violet.Things get worse before they get better.





	Nowhere to go but down

**Author's Note:**

> Please heed the warnings. Count Olaf entirely intends on raping Violet and while it DOESN'T happen, there is frequent mentions of it.

_“The marriage is legally binding. I’m so sorry, Baudelaires.”_

 

_“Let Sunny go! You promised.”_

 

_“I can’t allow this. I won’t allow it.”_

 

_“Nothing about my plan has been unlawful. I have done nothing wrong.”_

 

_“Please, don’t let him take us away.”_

 

_“Violet! Violet, no!”_

 

_“Follow me, dear wife.”_

 

Violet snapped back into reality the same way a cruel fall down the stairs may snap someone’s neck. She stood in the entrance-way of Count Olaf’s house, flanked by her siblings and facing down the terrible owner.

“Follow me.” Count Olaf said again.

Violet opened her mouth and found she couldn’t speak. She was in shock, right hand shaking even as he left hand hung limp at her side. She hadn’t processed anything from the moment Justice Strauss had declared she was now Countless Olaf and even now, once more aware of what was going on, she still found she couldn’t truly comprehend what was happening.

“Violet.” Klaus’s hushed voice helped to pull her further from her stupor. “Violet, don’t. Don’t go with him.”

“Gah.” Sunny agreed, held safely in Klaus’s arms. When had she been let free from the cage? Violet couldn’t remember. And why were Sunny and Klaus in Count Olaf’s house at all? Surely Count Olaf only needed her. Hadn’t Violet tried to get him to let them go?

Had she?

“I’m growing impatient.” Count Olaf walked up to Violet and held a hand out. He was acting as though she had a choice to go with him, when it was so clear that she didn’t.

“Violet.” Klaus said again. “Violet, let’s run.”

“We can’t.” Violet was surprised to find her voice was working. “I’ll go with him. I’m going to keep you safe.”

“No!” Sunny shrieked.

“No!” Klaus cried.

“I have to. I promised mother and father.” Violet sounded a lot braver then she felt. In reality, she was terrified. The only thing stopping her from breaking down into tears was the primal desperation to protect her younger siblings. Count Olaf only needed her, his wife (and didn’t that though make Violet want to throw up) so why hadn’t he let Klaus and Sunny go? He’d made it clear he didn’t want to waste money on unnecessary things and Violet knew that her brother and sister were situated firmly in that category. So then…he was probably going to…hurt them. Badly. If Violet obeyed Count Olaf, she could strike a deal with him.

Violet reached out and took Count Olaf’s hand. It was cold in hers and she couldn’t hold back her shiver of disgust.

Count Olaf laughed and it was like he’d run his fingers up a blackboard. “Come, my dear. I can’t wait to get that wedding dress off you.”

Violet couldn’t force a smile, couldn’t reply, couldn’t even cry. She froze, crushed under the weight of the sudden realisation that Count Olaf intended to follow through with something she’d been so sure he wouldn’t.

“You monster!” Klaus yelled. “Don’t touch her!”

“Talp!” Sunny shrilled beside him which meant the same thing but with a lot more implied profanity than a baby Sunny’s age should have known.

“This way.” Count Olaf led (pulled) Violet up the stairs towards his bedroom. She heard Klaus’s footsteps behind her and twisted in the grasp of Count Olaf to shout at him.

“Don’t try and stop this. I’m doing it for you! Can’t you see this, Klaus? Let me do this!”

“No!” Klaus shouted back. He still had Sunny in his arms and the tears in her little sister’s eyes hurt more than Violet imagined anything else ever could. “I won’t let this happen. I know mother and father told you to protect us but then who’s going to protect you? We all protect each other!”

Count Olaf rolled his eyes and yanked Violet harshly. “Stop with all this boring drama. We have other things to concern ourselves with. Orphan two and three, go to your room. Be grateful you’re still alive.”

“I’m stopping, I’m stopping.” Violet pleaded. “Don’t hurt them. Please, I’ll do anything.”

“Anything?” Count Olaf’s one eyebrow rose and the delight in his voice sunk beneath Violet’s skin and polluted her.

“Violet!” There was heartbreak and betrayal in Klaus’s voice but Violet knew she was doing the right thing. It had to be the right thing. She and Count Olaf reached the top of the stairs and she called back to her brother one last time.

“Klaus, go back!”

“No!”

“For heaven’s sake.” Count Olaf groaned and let go of Violet. He pushed her so hard she fell to the floor and turned on Klaus who had followed them to the landing and was trying his best to look threatening. With Sunny in his arms, his short stature and large round glasses, Klaus was anything but.

Violet was winded from her fall but she cried out for her brother anyway. “Klaus, he’ll hurt Sunny!”

“Jewarti!” Sunny babbled which was her way of saying that she wasn’t going to let Count Olaf do such a thing.

“Don’t touch my sisters.” Klaus hissed. “Or-”

“Or what?” Count Olaf mocked. “You think you can stand up to me? What a joke you are.”

“Klaus.” Violet pulled herself up from the ground. “Klaus, go back downstairs. Please. Let me do this.”

“No.” Klaus said. He was crying. “I won’t let this happen to you, to us.”

“You don’t have a choice.” Count Olaf sneered.

“I do.” Klaus retaliated. “Violet doesn’t give consent to this. Rape between a married couple, no matter how unlawfully that marriage happened, is still rape. I won’t let you get away with it. I won’t let it happen!”

“You won’t?” Count Olaf cocked his head almost innocently, an odd description to give to such a horrible man. _“You won’t?”_

In one swift movement, Count Olaf plucked Sunny from Klaus’s arms with one hand and pushed him with the other.

There was nowhere to go but down.

Klaus fell.

 

* * *

 

“NO!” Violet screamed. She reached out as though she could simply catch Klaus and pull him to safety, but Count Olaf tugged her back. Together, she and Sunny were forced to watch as their only brother fell backwards down the splintered staircase and land in a heap at the bottom of it. His head was twisted at a horrifying angle, his legs and arms appeared broken and his glasses were smashed against his face.

There was blood.

“How could you?!” Violet beat her fists helplessly against Count Olaf’s chest. _“How could you?!”_

“It was quite simple, really. I just reached out and gave him a shove. Do you want to try? There’s still the baby.”

Violet slapped him.

“I thought I could do this!” She cried. “I was ready to sacrifice everything for my siblings and now Klaus has done just that. I’m divorcing you, Count Olaf. I’m divorcing you and getting out of this stupid, unlawful horrible marriage I never truly agreed to. Stay the fuck away from me and my siblings!”

“You can’t leave.” The man’s voice was dangerous. “It’s not that simple. I won’t let you leave.”

“Kla!” Sunny wailed. “Kla, Kla, Kla!”

“Let my sister go right now. Let her go so I can check on my brother.” Violet was struggling to remain calm.

“It’s so easy for me to say no, dearest. You don’t have any power here. You’re fourteen.” Count Olaf dismissed her. “I am an adult. Go to our room right now!”

“It’s never ever going to be my room.” Violet spat. “It will never be my room and this will never be our house. We’re leaving! Sunny, now!”

Sunny bit down on Count Olaf’s hand. Hard. He cursed and let her go. Violet was ready for it and she ran forward to catch her sister before she hit the ground.

“Good job, Sunny.” Violet praised her.

“Kio.” Sunny warned and pointed to where Count Olaf had swiftly recovered from the bite.

“Stop this right now!” The man roared.

Violet ran.

She thumped down the stairs and if it wasn’t for Klaus, she would have run right out the door. Instead, she set aside her want for freedom and knelt down beside the limp form of her brother. She and her siblings looked out for each other. They protected each other, and they would never leave anyone behind.

“Klaus.” She whispered, uncaring that Count Olaf was slowly and dramatically walking down towards them. “Klaus, what do I do?”

“Vi.” Sunny squeaked. Count Olaf was getting closer and closer.

“Klaus.” Violet gave her brother a little shake. “Please, Klaus. I’m sorry. You tried to protect me. This is my fault.”

She got no response and the tears built up in her.

“Looks like this little rebellion was all for nothing.” Count Olaf towered over Violet and her siblings.

“No.” Violet whispered.

“What was that?”

 _“No!”_ She yelled. “You’re not going to touch me or Klaus or Sunny ever again!”

“You can’t stop me.” Count Olaf reached out and ran his greasy fingers through a strand of her dark hair.

Violet pulled away. There was only so many things she could do in this situation and avoiding a violent outcome wasn’t one of them. She couldn’t take Klaus and Sunny and run. There was no way she could stay ahead of Count Olaf. She couldn’t talk her way out of this. Count Olaf had made it clear that there was no voice of reason he’d ever listen to.

Count Olaf had pushed Klaus down the stairs and now he wasn’t moving, wasn’t spouting facts about the books he’d read, wasn’t putting himself between his sister and Count Olaf. He just wasn’t…Klaus.

Violet was so incredibly angry that it didn’t take much for her to reach out and grab blindly at the umbrella stand. Her hand closed around a wooden stick and she pulled it out without thought.

Count Olaf had the audacity to laugh in Violet’s face after everything he’d done. “What are you going to do? Hit me with that?”

“Yes.” Violet said and she swung.

_Crack_

Count Olaf toppled backwards and hit the floor. Like Klaus before him, he didn’t move.

“Woo.” Sunny giggled. Violet let go off the stick and clenched her hand into a fist.

“I…hit him.” She said slowly.

“Hah.” Sunny acknowledged.

“He hurt Klaus, he hurt you, so I hit him.”

“Hah.”

“We have to get out of here. I have to call the hospital. We need an ambulance.”

“Kla.” Sunny patted Klaus’s face with a tiny hand.

“Is he breathing?” Violet didn’t want to know the answer. She wanted to believe that he was and that there were no other options for Klaus but to breathe.

Sunny nodded and went back to patting Klaus as though she could wake him up.

“The phone.” Violet muttered to herself. Her anger was dying down but fear and panic and self-loathing was rising up in its place. “I need to find the phone. I need to call the hospital. Klaus is hurt. Klaus is hurt. Count Olaf wanted to have sex with me and he hurt Klaus so I hit him and now he’s hurt. I need to call for an ambulance because Klaus is hurt.”

“Vi!” Sunny cried.

“Right.” Violet snapped herself out of the funk she’d been entering without even realising. “I’m on it.”

She found the phone in the living room (parlour as Count Olaf had called it but she didn’t want to think about him) and dialled the familiar number.

“Hello, what is your emergency?”

“My brother, he’s hurt.” Violet stammered out. “He got pushed down the stairs.”

“I’m sorry, pushed?”

“Yes.” Violet clung to the phone. “Pushed. Can you send an ambulance? And maybe a police car? The man who pushed my brother was going to…was going to…ruh-ruh…hurt me. He’s my…husband…but-”

“How old are you, sweetie?”

“Fourteen.”

“Fourteen?”

“It’s a long story.” Violet battled to keep her voice steady. “Please, just help us.”

“Where are you?”

Violet rattled off the address mechanically. She was certain she was disassociating (which was a fancy world Klaus had taught her when she was ten and he was eight) as her body and mind didn’t seem to be connected anymore.

“We’re sending people to you right now. Can you stay on the phone?”

It was too late to ask that. Violet had dropped the phone the moment she’d heard help was on the way. She ran back to Sunny and Klaus. It looked like Count Olaf hadn’t moved which calmed Violet slightly.

“We can’t just leave him like that.” Violet looked at the broken body of her brother.

“Camohim.” Sunny gurgled softly which meant ‘we can’t move him because we’re not medical professionals’.

“I know.” Violet restrained herself but it took a great deal of effort on her behalf. “But what else can we do? Just sit here and do nothing?”

Sunny leant into Violet and said nothing. Both sisters knew the answer to Violet’s question so there was no point even answering it aloud.

Yes.

That was all they could do.

Sit there and do nothing.

Nothing but wait.

 

* * *

 

The ambulance came and took Klaus away and Sunny and Violet were ushered into a police van to travel elsewhere. They were separated for the first time since Sunny had been born and no matter who Violet asked, or how much she pleaded, nobody would give her an update on Klaus.

The police were eager to question Violet but weren’t allowed to until a social worker had arrived. This was clearly a strange case, one never seen before, and nobody knew quite how to react to it. Privately, Violet wished that the police was stop dithering around and take her and Sunny to see their brother.

“Where is Count Olaf?” Violet asked at one stage. Her thoughts had drifted briefly from the wellbeing of Klaus and had instantly stuck on the man who was technically her husband.

“In a cell. He’s awake and we’ve questioned him.” An officer answered. “Now we want to hear your side of the story. Come on, your social worker has arrived.”

Violet gathered Sunny in her arms and followed the officer to an interview room where a young lady waited for them.

“Hello.” She smiled when Violet and Sunny sat across from her. Violet started to fiddle with the metal bar meant to have handcuffs wrapped around them and was glad that nobody had thought she deserved to be restrained.

“I’m Violet, and this is my sister Sunny.” Violet said as politely as she could.

“I’m Marie.” The lady introduced herself. “I’m a social worker.”

“And I’m Officer Jadith.” The officer sat down next to Marie and adjusted her glasses in a way that Klaus always did. “We need you to cooperate with us and answer all our questions.”

“If we do, will you take us to see Klaus?” Violet asked anxiously.

Marie consulted some notes from a file in front of her. “Klaus is your brother?”

“Yes. He was seriously hurt when Count Olaf pushed him down the stairs.” Violet replied.

“Count Olaf. That man is your husband, yes?”

Violet shrunk in on herself. “I’m afraid so.”

She felt Sunny rest a reassuring hand on her shoulder and forced a smile so hard it hurt. She’d been as strong as she possibly could all night and now it was time to be a little stronger.

“Perhaps I should start at the beginning.” Violet said confidently. “One day, our parents asked us to take a rickety trolley to Briny Beach…”

…

“There was nothing left for us to have. Everything was gone.”

…

“There were all these jobs and we did them all even though they were hard, because he scared us.”

…

“He hit Klaus for no reason!”

…

“Then he locked Sunny in a cage and said he’d drop her to her death if I didn’t marry him.”

…

“Nobody believed us. What else could I do? I’m the oldest. I protect them.”

…

“And I hit him. I had to. He was going to leave Klaus there and take me to his bedroom and…and…well you know what he was going to do!”

…

“And now we’re here.” Violet finished. “That’s the story. The whole miserable story. Please, please let us see Klaus now.”

Marie and Officer Jadith set down their pens. Both looked shocked at the story, but Violet couldn’t tell what the shock meant for her and Sunny.

“Count Olaf told us you attacked him unprovoked after your brother simply happened to fall down the stairs. He said he’d been nothing but a kind and welcoming guardian.” Officer Jadith told Violet.

“He’s lying!” Violet cried.

“Teseru!” Sunny chimed in which was just her way of saying what Violet had just said.

“We have witnesses from the play. He told everyone about his plan.” Violet said desperately.

“Calm down, Violet.” Marie said soothingly. “We know who’s telling the truth here. You’d have to be a complete fool to believe Count Olaf’s story.”

Violet thought of Mr Poe and his constant denials that anything was wrong. “That sounds about right.”

“We’re going to find you a proper guardian so that you can recover from this all. The marriage will be dissolved, and Count Olaf will go to jail.” Officer Jadith said gently. “This is going to be a happy ending, Violet.”

Violet gritted her teeth. “This won’t be a happy ending until we see Klaus.”

“Right.” Marie gathered her papers. “I’ll take you and Sunny down there right away. Thank you, Violet.”

“For what?” Violet frowned.

“For your honesty and your bravery. You’ve saved you and your siblings lives tonight.” Marie said warmly.

Violet tried to smile but it felt like a lie.

Just like what Marie had said.

A lie.

Violet hadn’t saved anyone. It had all been Klaus and Sunny.

She was a failure.

 

* * *

 

It was night and the hospital felt quiet and deserted. Marie led Violet and Sunny down corridor after corridor. It was as though they were lost in a maze and Klaus was the centre they were trying to reach.

He was their centre, the middle child, the only boy.

Violet felt shivers run up her spine the deeper and deeper they ventured. It was almost as if something was warning her that nothing good would ever come from being at a hospital.

“Are we almost there?” She asked Marie, desperate to break the oppressive silence.

Marie studied the piece of paper a nurse had given her. “I believe so, yes.”

Sunny jiggled impatiently in Violet’s arms. Violet was almost tempted to do the same but that would have made for a funny sight. She just focused on putting one foot in front of the other. If she could keep herself together for a bit longer and stop seeing Count Olaf in front of her and stop feeling his breath on her neck, then everything would be fine. Klaus would be fine. Sunny would be fine.

“This is it.” It was Marie’s voice that made Violet stop abruptly.

“Klaus?” She asked.

Marie checked the paper and then the number on the door she’d stopped at. “Yes, this is Klaus’s room.”

Marie ceased to exist. The world shifted and shrunk and then it was just Violet and Sunny and behind the door, Klaus.

Violet pushed the door open and stepped into the room.

It was small, large enough to hold only one bed, and wasn’t that a relief. Right now the world was made up of the Baudelaire children and them alone. Violet couldn’t handle someone else intruding into their world.

Klaus was lying in the bed, small body swamped by a massive hospital gown that made him look at least three years younger than he actually was. Plastic tubes were stuck in his arms, placed expertly to avoid the bandagers wrapped around other places such as his wrist. There were stiches in his face where his glasses had cut into him, a brace around his neck and a cast on his ankle. Machines beeped dutifully, and wires relayed important information. Violet knew the technical names for everything in the room but her mind couldn’t even begin to conjure them. Her world was shrinking again until it was just Klaus.

“Oh, Klaus.” Violet’s voice was thick with tears. “What did he do to you?”

Violet might still feel the phantom fingers of Count Olaf on her but that was just a thought. What she saw before her was real and terrifying. This was her brother and he was so hurt she almost couldn’t bear to look at him.

“Klaus.” She said again. “Klaus, I’m so sorry.”

“Mm,” Klaus stirred in the bed and suddenly the world was whole again.

“You’re awake!”

“Vi…” Klaus blinked. He looked odd without his glasses. Violet couldn’t remember a time where he didn’t have them.

“Kla!” Sunny chirped.

“You’re here.” Klaus’s words were slurred but they were real and Violet could hear them.

“Of course we’re here.” There were tears in Violet’s eyes and she didn’t care. “We would never leave you.”

“They told me you were at the police station.” Klaus said slowly, as if he was remembering how to speak with each new word he said. He probably had a head injury. “I thought you’d been arrested.”

“Gented!” Sunny waved her arms around as she explained in her own way that they actually got to help with an arrest, the arrest of Count Olaf.

“He’s been arrested?” Klaus asked in disbelief.

“Yes.” Violet reached out to touch her brother but through better of it and retreated. There wasn’t a part of Klaus that wasn’t bruised and broken. She wasn’t going to add to that. “The marriage is going to be dissolved and we have a social worker who’s going to find us a new guardian instead of an unqualified banker.”

“That’s good.” Klaus blinked slowly. “How are you?”

“Don’t worry about me.” Violet smiled softly. “Worry about yourself.”

“But…” Klaus trailed off. “He was going to…”

_Hands…on her…touching her…_

“No.” Violet said forcefully, mostly to herself. “It never happened and everything’s fine. It’s you we’re worried about.”

“Teeloo.” Sunny said which meant she was worried about the both of them, which earned her two confused looks from two traumatised children.

“Let’s just all worry about each other.” Klaus decided, words jumbled together despite how decisive he sounded.

“Sounds like a good idea.” Violet reached out again and this time brushed some hair out of Klaus’s eyes.

“Looks bad, huh.” Klaus whispered.

“Gah.” Sunny confirmed.

“Could be worse.” Violet offered. “You could be…”

_Not with us._

“There’s going to be scars around my eyes. From the glasses.” Klaus moved as if to touch his face but neither of his hands cooperated.

Violet couldn’t say anything to that. How could she? There was nothing to say.

There probably wouldn’t be for a long time.

“I want to hug you.” She said instead. “But I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Gah.” Sunny agreed.

“I want that too.” Klaus choked on the words. “But you’re right. Everything hurts and I don’t want it to be worse.”

Count Olaf had pushed Klaus down the stairs and if he’d had his way, would’ve taken Violet to bed and left Klaus there to die. He probably would have thrown Sunny down the stairs as well, just because he was Count Olaf and he could. Each of the siblings was in so much pain for so many reasons and the comfort that came when they embraced could not be reached just then.

“Let’s just pretend,” Violet suggested.

They all closed their eyes and did just that.

 

* * *

 

Marie had found their new guardian. He was a renowned scientist who lived out in the country in an enormous house with plenty of room for the children. His name was Doctor Montgomery Montgomery and apparently he’d grown up with Violet, Klaus and Sunny’s parents and was listed in the will as a potential guardian for the children. They were going to go live with him and recover from the traumatising time with Count Olaf in relative isolation. Klaus had been released from the hospital, confined to a wheelchair that Violet had to push because his right wrist was still badly hurt. They’d packed up their meagre belongings (small enough amount to barely fill one standard size suitcase) and Marie had driven them out there in her posh but small car.

“What is Doctor Montgomery a scientist of?” Klaus wanted to know. His trademark glasses were back in place, but they did little to mask the scars around his eyes.

“He’s a herpetologist, if I remember correctly.” Marie turned the car down a turnoff to a road called Lousy Lane.

“What’s that?” Violet asked Klaus.

Klaus thought for a moment. “Anything that ends in ‘ologist’ or ‘ology’ is the study of something. But I don’t know what a herpetologist is.”

Ever since the accident, Klaus had been a little slower in reciting his knowledge and had found some gaps in his memory where the contents of books he’d read had once been.

“I hope it’s nothing medical.” Violet shuddered. She still had a bad feeling about hospitals and having been around for all of Klaus’s check-ups had given her a few nightmares, not that she was going to actually let him know that.

“Tamo.” Sunny babbled away in her bay talk, indicating that she hoped Doctor Montgomery worked in the food industry.

“A food-ologist?” Klaus suggested and they all laughed at the little word play.

“Mind the smell.” Marie warned from the front. “There’s a horseradish factory on this road and it’s quite strong.”

“Geh!” Sunny exclaimed which meant ‘too right!’

Violet looked out the window at the rows and rows of dead apple trees, proudly displaying their dead crop. It all looked so bleak and she hoped that Doctor Montgomery’s house was different from the lane that led to it. She was so incredibly nervous about living with a new male guardian that her mind refused to think up any of the usual inventions a road such as Lousy Lane should have inspired in her. What if this Doctor Montgomery was like Count Olaf, only he was better at hiding it?

What if he…touched her?

“Vi?” Sunny crawled into Violet’s arms and looked up at her with curious eyes.

“Just nervous.” Violet forced a smile. That was all she was doing lately. Forcing everything. “Marie, do you know anything else about Doctor Montgomery?”

“Not much, sorry.” Marie said apologetically. “But your parents were the ones who wanted you to go to him.”

“They never talked about him though.” Klaus explained.

“Were they good judges of character?” Marie asked.

“We thought so…” Klaus hesitated.

“But if they were friends with Count Olaf then…” Violet finished.

“Now, you don’t know that for sure. From the way I heard it, Count Olaf manipulated Mr Poe into sending you to him.” Marie chided. “Don’t think so badly of your parents. What happened was out of their hands.

Yeah, Violet thought. Because they’re dead and they left us.

“Violet,” Klaus said to her softly, drawing her attention to him. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“I’m sure.” Violet lied. “How about you? How’s the pain?”

Klaus held up the bottle of pain killers he had been prescribed. “Dulled.”

“Look, I can see the house.” Marie interrupted.

All three children craned their necks to see out the windows and windscreen. The house they saw loomed above them like Count Olaf’s had done all those days before. However, while Count Olaf’s house had been dark and decrepit, this house was lively and lush. Bushy green topiaries lined the path that led up to the building. The house itself was made up of two sections, a creamy brick part and a large glass portion which the Baudelaires supposed acted as Doctor Montgomery’s lab.

“It has two stories.” Violet noted. “I hope your room is downstairs, Klaus. If not, I’ll have to invent something.” Her hands itched for her ribbon and a small smile blossomed to life on her face. Count Olaf hadn’t broken every bit of her after all.

The car pulled up outside the house and Violet noticed that all the topiaries were shaped like snakes. Maybe herpetology was the study of snakes? That felt a little too specific, though. Reptiles?

Marie and Violet set up Klaus’s wheelchair and helped him into it. Sunny perched on Klaus’s lap, Violet took up the handles and Marie offered to take the suitcase. Together, the orphans and their social worker walked up to the door and then as if on cue, all stopped.

“Stairs.” Violet said.

“Stairs.” Klaus echoed.

“Sirs!” Sunny attempted.

Just then, the door swung open. A man stood there, large smile on his face and a plate of cake balanced in his hands.

“Hello, hello, hello!” He cried. “Welcome to my house. You must be the Baudelaires. What a relief to have you here at last. I got so excited, I made us all cake.”

“That’s very nice of you.” Violet smiled politely at the man who so far, was a far cry from Count Olaf. “We have a small problem, Doctor Montgomery.”

“Please,” He interrupted gently. “Call me Monty.”

“Monty, then.” Violet gestured to Klaus. “As you can see, my brother needs a wheelchair at the moment. Is there any other way we can get into your house? Or perhaps I could make a ramp, if you have some materials.”

“There’s nothing to worry about.” Monty winked. “When we heard one of you would temporarily be in a wheelchair, my partner designed one. He’s just fetching it now.”

“Work partner?” Violet asked curiously.

“Partner, partner.” A new voice said. A man appeared at the top of the steps next to Monty. He pressed a quick kiss to Monty’s cheek and then started to attach a bronze tube to the top of the stairs. Violet watched in awe as he pressed a few buttons and it unravelled into a ramp.

“That’s amazing.” She breathed. “Did you invent it?”

“I did.” The unnamed man said kindly. “Are you an inventor.”

“A budding one.” Violet said hastily. “Nothing special.”

“Violet is amazing.” Klaus cut in. “She made a grappling hook out of basically nothing and it worked.”

“Incredible.” The man walked down the ramp and held out a hand to Violet. “I’m Gustav. I’d love it if we could work together on inventions.”

Violet stared at the hand. For a moment, she couldn’t move. The hand trembled and wobbled and turned into Count Olaf’s thin, bony one. Then the illusion shifted, and it was just Gustav.

Her hesitation had not gone unnoticed. Both Monty and Gustav looked sad for some reason. Violet forced (again with the forcing) a smile and shook his hand.

“I’d like that too.”

“Come on in, children.” Monty stepped aside to give them room to enter. “You too, Ms Ary.”

Violet pushed Klaus up the ramp and paused to look back out at the world behind her.

Monty and Gustav didn’t seem to be anything like Count Olaf. They’d come across as kind and clever and sympathetic. First impressions can so often be wrong, but Violet had also learnt that they could be right. Count Olaf had appeared to be grossly negligent and evil and that he was. He’d been so close to making Violet his and it was only his cruel action towards Klaus and Sunny that had stopped it from happening. Violet couldn’t stop imaging what would have happened to them if Count Olaf hadn’t pushed Klaus down the stairs. It was so terribly painful to think about and yet she couldn’t stop. She couldn’t stop having nightmares about it, his hands on her body even as she screamed. She would wake herself up, body fighting for air she couldn’t get because she was so, so frightened.

Klaus wasn’t okay either. His body had been so badly hurt from the fall. He couldn’t walk like he used to, couldn’t think the way he did before. All Count Olaf had done was reach out and push and now Klaus was suffering greatly for it. The scars on his face were ugly in his eyes and nothing Violet and Sunny said could convince him otherwise. He was a shell of his former self and Violet couldn’t begin to her herself, so how could she help him? Klaus had been hurt trying to protect her and Violet was letting him down.

Sunny was trying to be brave in a way that somebody her age should never have to be. She was a baby and yet even after being locked in a cage and threatened with death, she was still her sparky self. Or maybe she was faking it, just like Violet was. Maybe Sunny wanted to be strong and this was the only way she could be. Violet had never felt further away from her sister and it hurt that she had no idea what was going on inside Sunny. Sunny shouldn’t have to be pretending to be fine and brave. She shouldn’t have had to face such horrors before she could even walk.

“Vi.” Sunny reached up from Klaus’s lap to her elder sister, her protector.

“Sunny.” Violet reached back. She needed them just as much as they needed her.

“If anything happens, I’ll protect us.” Klaus said quietly so that Monty and Gustav couldn’t hear him.

Violet had to laugh at that and it came freely. “I think things might be different here.”

She gave Sunny a quick hug and then gave her back to Klaus so that Violet could push Klaus inside, the three of them together again as a new story started.

**Author's Note:**

> This is so entirely self-indulgent I could die. Seriously, did anyone ask for this apart from me? 
> 
> I tried to write the characters more like they're written in the book but I don't think it worked. 
> 
> Please, please leave kudos and comments if you liked this! I might even write a second part if people like it enough, where the siblings are happy with Uncle Monty and Gustav


End file.
